on Backlogs, Clothing Ads and Portrait #45

This is long overdue!

I have had the priveledge to do three shoots with Fatima already and I haven't had the chance to publish any of it here in my blog. Truth be told, I always have fun doing a shoot with her because I do not need that much effort during the shoot because she is just simply awesome in front of the camera.

I just want to share with you guys the shoots I have done with her and to officially add her to my portraits project.

This shoot happened about a year ago inside the pedestrian underpass to the airport.

The next shoot was for a makeup competition where she and her makeup artist Paulyn Dy made it to the final cut.

 

The last shoot was taken about a month ago. This one was a quick strobist shoot with my good friend and peer Charisse Ann Bibera. I was inspired by the advertisements from clothing companies and tired a hand at making my own.

 

 

And this will be my entry to my portrait project:

Portrait #45: Fatima

This is probably the most number of photos I have published in one portrait blog. I know there will be more shoots in the coming months when she visits Davao again. She will always be one of my favorite models.

PS: Special thanks to all those who made these shoots possible. To Paulyn Dy of Makeup Magic by Paulyn Dy for the makeup on the first two shoots and for introducing me to Fatima. And to Charisse Bibera for being my co-shooter for the past few months. I hope to collaborate with all of you in the near future.

on Sail Boats, Beaches and Panoramas

It has been awhile...

I have been planning to write a blog for weeks now and yet I haven't had the inspiration to actually start writing; until now.

I finished stitching up some panoramas from a recent trip the island of Boracay. These photos were taken during our island hopping trip via sail boat or known locally as Paraw. While the weather during the trip was sketchy, there were times that we had clear blue skies. It was my idea to ride a Paraw instead of the regular boat with an outboard motor. It was fun, sometimes harrowing because of the wind and waves, and a very unique way to explore the island.

Here are the panoramas I took during the trip.

Station 1 Boracay

Station 1 was our jump off point. We were picked up by the boat there. It was around 6Am when I took this photo and in the distance the clouds were looking very ominous.

Magic Island

Magic Island is a small island not far from the main island. The trip to the island was a bit scary because we were facing the huge waves. There were times when one side of the boat would get lifted up to about 10 feet or get swallowed by waves. It was like a roller coaster ride of sorts; one that lasted about 30 minutes.

Puka Beach

The last photo was taken from Puka Beach at the tip of the main island. The scenery made the trip worthwhile. The sand was powder white, the breeze was cool and the waters were crystal clear. I could imagine myself staying in the beach, with a book and a nice milk shake. I promised myself that when I return to Boracay, I will spend a day there.

I only had a short stay in Boracay and only got to shoot a few times mainly because of the weather. I plan on returning probably in a year or so just to explore more of the island. I hope the next time I will be blessed by good weather.

PS: All photos were taken with my  Nikon D7000 and stitches in photoshop CS6.

on Same Day Edits, Collaborations and Portrait #47

I was challenged to post the whole set on the same day by the model; so here I am.

Techinically it is not the same day because it is already almost 2am. But for those who know me, my backlog for posts goes as far back as last year. Well, this shoot took SIX years before it finally happened so I think it merits the early publishing.

I asked Krestle for a shoot when I was still starting out as a portrait photographer. She was in second year college then and starting out in modelling. Now I've shooting "semi-professionally" and shes going to start med school. I think it is a blessing that it took that long for me to finally have the chance to shoot her because now I have enough "skill" to make the shoot worthwhile.

It was also the first time I did a collaboration with Charisse who is my contemporary in shooting portraits. I also cannot explain why it took that long before I could have the chance to work with her. But having them both with me on location made the shoot a walk in the park (both figuratively and literally).

And the output should speak for itself.

 

 

I also have a photo to add to my portrait project. I will add this as #47 but I am yet to publish #45 and #46 since I prefer to have it in chronological order. So here is the photo that will be added to the collection.

Portrait #47: Krestle

This shoot has been a nice experience for me. It has been awhile since I did a portrait shoot with another photographer and I really do miss having someone to talk to and share inputs with. Its always better when you have someone else with you especially when you run out of ideas. I think I will do more collaborations this year.

PS: Special thanks to Charisse Ann Bibera aka Chawie and her boyfriend Henry for working with me on the shoot. We will be shooting again in the coming weeks.

PPS: If she looks familiar to you, then you probably read an article in a popular men's magazine about a week ago about a nurse who volunteers for medical missions that does free circumcision. I wonder if my photos are too wholesome (or even good enough) for the said men's magazine. LOL!

on Long Breaks, Backlogs and Portraits

It has been awhile since I last wrote something on this blog. I have been meaning to blog about some of my portraits from 2014 but I just haven't had the time or the motivation to do so. So while I am in a lull from shooting events and for clients, I want to write about my personal shoots last year.

People have been asking me if I have finished my 100 portraits project and sadly I haven't. I still have to reach halfway into the project. Since I have this HUGE backlog of portraits to post, I will be publishing these five portraits that I will add to my project. These five ladies are all friends from highschool; they went to the same school as me. And I did all had their "pre-debut" portraits. All the photos were taken last year during "pre-debut" portrait sessions. I like working with them as subjects because the shoots are all light-hearted and fun. I guess photography is the one aspect of my life where I perform best when not under immense pressure.

It was also from their shoots that I got the hang of post-processing with the colors I use now. I got so used to the workflow that I have been applying it to all my shoots with people regardless of it being a portrait or an event. The vintage purplish / yellow / sunset hue is now an identifying trait of my portraits; call it my signature style if you want. I want to continue developing this workflow until I a master it.

Here are the five portraits I am adding to my collection...

Portrait #40: Annalou

Portrait #41: Rin-rin

Portrait #42: Mary

Portrait #43: Ella

Portrait #44: Jill

PS: I will hopefully be shooting a few portrait sessions before the summer ends. If anybody is interested, do send me a message in facebook, twitter or instagram.

PPS: Speaking of instagram, I added a widget on the right for my instagram feed. Follow my mundane not-so-artsy photos of everyday life there.

on Hiatus, Comebacks and Portrait #39

Finally, I'm back after a seven month long hiatus. Well, I took a break from blogging but not from photography. I just did not have the time to update my blog since I was busy with all the other things going on in my life.

Much has changed in the last seven months. I quit my day job, started working professionally as a photo retoucher and I have been shooting for clients more. Now that I found some time in between projects, I want to update my blog with some of the photoshoots that I have done the past few months. And I also want to update my portrait project.

 

Paulyn and Kezia

My first feature will be of my good friend and makeup artist Paulyn. We did several shoots the past few months and this one is with her friend Kezia. We did a shoot for Kezia before, but I am featuring this one because we got it right this time around. And ofcourse there is that mandatory portrait of Paulyn as well.

 

Paulyn and her flower crown 

During the shoot I worked mostly against the light as it was a particularly sunny afternoon. I added a slightly purplish haze during post processing to balance out the yellow and orange cast of the sun. Interestingly, I find adding some sort of haze effect to make portraits appealing. I like the “vintage-ish” look I get.

 

Kezia's angle :) 

And as promised, I am adding this portrait to my project.

Portrait #39: Kezia

 

PS: Thanks to Paulyn, Kezia, Fatima, Junah and Annalou for joining me in this shoot. I'll be posting Fatima's photos next. :D 

on Revisiting Chesca

It has been a long while since I last had a blog entry. I've been busy with so many other things lately that I found it difficult to find time to shoot and write. I am also preparing for a massive career change that is to come at the end of summer. Well, I do hope I can find time to write about the photos I took since my last entry.

For my comeback blog, I revisited the photos of Chesca. I was looking for photos to apply some new things I learned about post processing and I tried it on some of her portraits. I was inspired by the works of Emily Soto and I tried my best to replicate what she was doing. I must say, I am kind of enjoying the vintage and dreamy feel of her portraits. It would be a good addition to my traditional portrait post processing techniques.

 warm tone vintage...

It can be sometimes daunting because of the number of layers I have to create to capture a certain look; this is on top of my usual workflow for portraits. The additional work though is well worth it. Gone are the days of just clicking the "convert to black-and-white" button when I do not like how the colors work. And now, I have more options when I get bored of my "safe" post processing workflow.

 cold tone dreamy look...

I think the new look of the portraits fit my style. The subtle colors, dreamy feel and vintage vibe are more or less what my portraits are about. I will see what other portraits I can apply this style to.

PS:

A few days after finishing the two re-worked portraits, Chesca won the Mutya ng Dabaw pageant. It is probably the biggest and most prestigious pageant in the city. I am really proud to have met her and to have taken her portraits before she became Mutya ng Dabaw. She is the second Mutya I have in my portrait project.

PPS:

Today is also her birthday. Big shout out to the birthday girl! Happy bday Chesca!